Israel plans to launch “most secure” biometric passport

Earlier this month Israel announced that it will soon launch its sophisticated new biometric passport; one official claims that the passport’s new security features could make it “the most secure passport in the world”; the passport will contain a short range wireless computer chip that will contain personal information like an individual’s photograph, fingerprint, birth date, and signature; the passport will be issued after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a special committee on biometric affairs reach an agreement on the content of a proposed biometrics oversight bill

Earlier this month Israel announced that it will soon launch its sophisticated new biometric passport.

The passport will be issued after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a special committee on biometric affairs reach an agreement on the content of a proposed biometrics oversight bill.

According to Amnon Ben Ami, director of the Interior Ministry’s Population, Immigration, and Borders Authority, “The new Israeli passport will have many security features.”

Ami went on to claim that the new features could potentially make it “the most secure passport in the world.”

The passport will contain a short range wireless computer chip that will contain personal information like an individual’s photograph, fingerprint, birth date, and signature.

In addition, the passport’s details will be imprinted directly on to the page, making it more difficult to forge.

It will also include standard security measures likeanti-forgery markers printed in ultraviolet ink.

In an attempt to ease concerns over privacy with the new passports, Baruch Dadon with Israel’s Immigration Authority said, “Some have tried to scare the public into rejecting the biometric passport but I can assure that the database details will be protected and will not be politically or commercially exploited.”

While Israel’s new biometric passports may be among the world’s most secure, its current passports have become outdated and unreliable.

Israel is the only country within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) yet to issue a biometric passport, and in 2010 alone, nearly 140,000 of its passports and ID cards were stolen.

Israel’s Immigration authority estimates that currently thousands of people around the world are using stolen Israeli identity documents. Several Iranian and Pakistani nationals have been arrested for attempting to use fake Israeli passports.